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Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Wednesday Workout Update - Grumpy Edition

Bah humbug! That pretty much sums up how I'm feeling right about now. I'm getting a little frustrated (ok, maybe more than a little) at how slow my weight is coming off compared to other bloggers. Yes, I know we are all individuals and everyone loses at a different rate, but what can I say - I'm human. And while I'm losing 3 - 4 pounds a month, lots of you are losing 2 - 3 pounds a week. I am so close to a major milestone - but I'm not still not there yet - and to be honest it 's pissing me off. Once I reach said milestone, I'll be about 20 pounds away from what I think will be my goal weight - which would be awesome if I could get this done in, say, the next freakin' millennium!

I don't know what else I could be doing. Brad noticed I was upset this morning (hard not to when tears are falling) and after I explained, he said my exercise is good. He offered to take a look at what I'm eating and see if it's not enough or too much or what. Which I will do, but I'm leaving for our vacation a week from tomorrow, and I'm not going to have complete control over what is available to eat, plus I will be, hello, on vacation and plan on enjoying the lovely foods of Hawaii (and Oregon, for that matter), so this really won't be an option until nearly November. Argh.

Oh, and another thing. I will be missing Linda when I come back from vacation - her mother, Alice, was just diagnosed with ovarian cancer and Linda will be taking time off to help care for her through the upcoming surgery and chemo. I'm sad for her mom, sad for Linda, and sad for me - yes, that's totally selfish, but I don't think I would have gotten so far with these workouts without Linda's encouragement. We've gotten to be friends, which has been a great bonus. And while we will be in touch via phone and Facebook, it's not the same when you see someone several times a week. Anyway, they are in for a rough road ahead, so if you can, please keep Alice in your thoughts.

As for my workouts, this week we were doing skill testing - seeing how far we'd come in the last six weeks on certain things. I went from an 85 pound bench press (one rep max) to 100 pounds, and improved my four minute wall sit to a little over six minutes. My plank hold only improved 30 seconds - up to three minutes thirty seconds (that is such a hard thing for me!)...and my bottom-to-bottom Tabata squats, where you do as many squats as you can for 20 seconds, and then hold the squat for the 10 second "rest" period times eight sets...well, let's just say I'm pretty sure they either stayed the same or went down - I am terrible at these things! I don't mind doing regular squats, but doing them in a Tabata is both a mental and physical nightmare for me. I did those Tuesday afternoon, and in this morning's class, where I was the only one who had already done them, Brad announced the Tabata squat - I swear, I didn't plan this, but the words "Nope, not gonna do them again" came out of my mouth - both Brad and Linda were a little shocked, as I never refuse to do things. What can I say, I was already in a grumpy mood and just wasn't having any of those darn Tabata squats - I did a mountain climber Tabata instead.

Well, if you've made it this far through my whining, congratulations and I'm sorry. Hopefully I'll snap out of this before I blog again!

I can totally sympathize with you. I have to do calorie restriction and uber workouts just to lose 1/2 pound a week. And then one dinner out and 3 pounds come back on just like that. 3 steps forward, 2 back. At this point I can't help but get annoyed at dinking around with the same 10 pounds for the last year.

It'll come off though. And you are maintaining this loss - which is the very important thing!

I know how hard it is to pull out of a bad mood but may I suggest that you look at your before and after photos?? You look amazing and have accomplished so much! You can wall sit for 6 minutes and girl, thats freakin' amazing! Anytime you need a pick-me-up just think of that.

Shelley - pop on over to my blog every Wednesday and I guarantee you will get a smile on your face because I'm not even doing as well as you are. Okay, how about you and I just meet and do a virtual hug, no matter what we weigh.

I'm glad you're able to see improvements in your workouts and they're big ones too!

3 minute 30 second PLANKS? I thought I was so awesome when I got up to a full minute. That is awesome.

You are more than welcome to whine away to us. We all do it. I think the smaller we get the less we lose quickly. You're still losing and if you don't believe it, just go look at your bike pictures :) Hang in there!

You are amazing; don't discount yourself or all that you have accomplished! It ebbs and flows; or it sure does for me. I'm just flowing now (not THAT kind! those days ended over 8 years ago. LOL) You will get back on fire. If I were a betting woman, with all the exercising you are doing, I bet you are calorie deficient for the amount of calories you are burning, and your metabolism might be a tad messed up. Change up the amount of calories you are consuming for a few days in a row, and do the same for your exercise level, and I bet you kick start it back again. But sometimes, the body just needs a tad more time to adjust than we want to give it...re all these pounds we have been losing. It needs to readjust its 'set point.'

Now print this out, rinse, repeat, and throw it back in my face the next time I bellyache. LOL

Oh, I can totally empathize, I've been on Weight Watchers for about 15 months now and I know I've seen other bloggers who have lost tons of weight in like 6 months and then say "oh I just stopped eating cookies and eating after 8 PM" WTF? For some of us it is MUCH harder and that is just unfair...but it is still worth it!

See, and here I was thinking that I'd love to lose weight as quickly as you do! I'm coming up on my 2 year anniversary with Weight Watchers at the end of the month and I'm so hoping to get to 80 lbs lost by then. I'm 1.8 lbs away and it will seriously be a struggle to get them off by the end of the month. I average about 1/2 lb a week.

But, here's the thing that I know you know. It doesn't matter how fast we lose weight. What matters is that you've changed your life in such a positive way and you'll keep this weight off for good.

I can wall-sit for approximately 15 seconds. I have a feeling you don't realize just how incredibly AWESOME you are. Shelley, you are a rockstar girl!!! Look at those pics on the sidebar...you're one of my biggest inspirations...maybe I should tell you that more often! I understand your frustration...I do. But just hang in there girl...just stay the pace. I'm so incredibly proud of you Shelley. I'm hoping that Brad taking a look at your food will make all the difference for you...I want you to enjoy your vacation to the max. November will be here before you know it and all of us will be here, too! Love ya' girl! :)

I think the progress you've made "as a whole" is absolutely amazing. Just look at your before photos! I know that the closer you get to goal, the slower the weight loss will be, simply because your body is now adjusting to this new way of life. Also, there's that old adage that muscle weighs more than fat. My Weight Watchers leader is always reminding us that as we build muscle, sometimes we will actually see a gain at the scales. But she reminds us that it's how we look and feel that's more important than a number on a scale. So, you look great and I know you feel better!!

You hang out with me, Shelley, and you'll appreciate how much faster you're losing than you think. Seriously tho, you've been at this for a long time and with amazing results - it's only natural to get down once in a while. Vaca is probably just what you need, just when you need it. Enjoy yourself and I bet you'll come back refreshed and rarin' to go.

Shelley! I am losing weight slower than you! But mostly I wanted to say how impressed I am with your exercises. I think you are the only other blogger that has mentioned doing tabata intervals! But NO WAY would I hold a squat for the 10 seconds of rest. NO WAY. And I just started doing planks to see how long I could hold them. 30 seconds!!! And I was happy with that.

I love hearing from you and read each and every comment! Comments on older posts are moderated, so they won't show up right away - sorry to my real readers, but spammers love to hit old posts, so this is necessary.